It’s not really much of a surprise to Tampa Bay general manager Yzerman that Filppula is proving to be a perfect fit. While in the front office with the Red Wings, Yzerman watched Filppula emerge from the Detroit system as a versatile forward.

“We were looking for a responsible, two-way center that could play in all situations, and he has done that for us,” Yzerman said. “He’s fit in very nicely. I think he’s enjoying playing with the players that we have in the style that we play. But again it was an important position for us, and we just felt he would be a real good fit.

“It is relatively early, but we are pleased with how he has fit in.”

Filppula is not only called on to center the second line, but also he runs the second power-play unit, is one of the first penalty killers to jump over the boards, takes many important faceoffs and often faces the opposition’s top lines.

When it’s time for Tampa Bay to protect a lead late in the game, Filppula is often tapped by Cooper to tackle the assignment.

“He’s just a quiet, confident, calm person,” Cooper said. “He’s stabilized our forward group. He goes a little bit unnoticed in the sense that we have some other guys out there that get more points and they have a little bit bigger name in the game.

“But when you watch the game, he gets those non-hero minutes. He’s out there against the big lines playing big minutes at big times in big games.”

... Darren Helm skated in the second-line center spot at Friday’s practice, but Babcock said there is no chance he will play there during the game. Babcock also said he is not splitting up Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, who have carried the team.

That limits their options.

“Our second line (isn’t) getting it done,’’ Babcock said. “Last night, let’s be honest, Pav and Z and (Todd Bertuzzi) won the game for us. We checked it right back (blowing a 3-2 lead late and losing 4-3 in overtime to Dallas).

“We did tons of great things; I went through it meticulously today. That’s basically what I told the players; let’s keep getting better because we are getting better. But we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. There were just a couple mistakes. The amount of zone time Pav and Z and those guys had alone, they could have had five (goals).’’

The problem is, aside from the top line and Daniel Alfredsson (13 points), nobody else is providing offense. Weiss has just three points in 17 games. Both of Franzen’s goals came in the same game; in his other 12 games he has only three assists.

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.